Tuesday, June 29, 2021

15mm WWII Japanese Forces

 All,

So here they are, I did it, knocked out the Japanese forces for WWII in the Pacific.  In record time, I might add ;)  Nothing special, but they look pretty good I think.  Like the US Marines, and in contrast to all my 15mm forces for Europe/North Africa/Mediterranean, these weren't built in accordance with Rapid Fire.  Hell, they weren't really built around any particular set of rules as I'm still trying to figure out what rules I'm going to use them with.  I keep looking at a modified version of 'Fistful of Lead,' which is the latest set of rules I've fallen in love with despite not actually having played them yet ;)

Here they are, the whole mess, all in 15mm.  The troops are all from Battlefront and Eureka, while the lone Type 95 tank is from Peter Pig and the five Type 97 tanks and two A6M Zeros are plastic or resin, manufacturer unknown.  I painted everything except the five Type 97s and the Zeros, which I picked up on Ebay (from the same guy who sold me the landing craft for the Marines).

The Japanese riflemen, four units (probably platoons) of three stands (probably squads) and a leader.  I can't really see doing it for the Pacific, but I've been looking at other rules to play higher echelons, where one of these rifle stands would represent a platoon, or even a company.

Yes, those are flags, and yes, they are poorly made by yours truly from some printer paper with a red Sharpie and some Elmers' glue.

So let's start by taking a look at the Japanese platoon command stands, each with a national ensign.  I have two stands where the sword-wielding wild man has a helmet (pictured), and two where he's wearing a soft cap.

Another look.

The soft cap.  His sword-holding hand is kinda big, but not bad otherwise.  All the troops on these stands are from Eureka.

A closeup.

A look at one of the rifle stands, where you can see the second guy at left is advancing with his rifle slung, carrying a "knee mortar," AKA Type 89 Grenade Discharger, in his left hand.  The rest carry the standard Arisaka rifle.

Another rifle stand.  I really love the dynamic pose of the guy furthest right, lunging with his bayonet, and I love how Eureka sculpted most of the helmet-wearing guys with their soft cap on underneath it, with the cloth hanging down to shade their necks.  

Another rifle stand, this time showing a 'knee mortar' in use.

Another rifle stand, showing a soldier wielding a Type 96 light machine gun, replete with bayonet (foreground, nearest camera).

A look at these guys from behind, showing their light gear and how I marked the bases for unit recognition.

The heavy weapons.  A platoon of four machine gun teams from Battlefront, a pair of 81mm mortars from Eureka, a pair of 70mm howitzers from Eureka, and two Type 98 20mm anti-aircraft guns from Battlefront.

Four Type 92 heavy machine guns from Battlefront.  I'm really a big fan of Eureka, but their MGs don't look right to me, the Battlefront figures look much better to me.  The only issue was that I had to add plinths to each to get the gun high enough to meet the gunners' hands, but I don't think you can really tell.

A closer look at the 'woodpeckers,' so nicknamed for the distinctive 'bonk-bonk-bonk' sound they made due to their extraordinarily slow rate of fire.  US Marines apparently often simply referred to them as 'Nambus,' as well.

Reverse.


And from behind.
Another team, this time with the gun set at center (whereas the previous team's gun was set on the right).  I really like how you can see the assistant/loader (far right) standing by with the next strip of rounds.

Another look.

And one more.

A pair of mortars from Eureka.  The tubes pictured are actually US Marine 81mm mortars, and the ones that came with the Japanese were really short.  Since I wanted the US Marines to have 60mm mortars, I simply swapped them with the Japanese tubes, and ya didn't even notice ;)

A closer look.  I really like the Japanese command figure (far left) with field glasses, sword in hand, resting on the ground.

So let's have a closer look.  Not sure what I did, but the colors sure got washed out in this photo.

Another look, from behind.

A pair of Type 92 70mm Infantry Guns.

A closer look.

Reverse.

A pair of Type 98 20mm AA guns, from Battlefront.  In all fairness, these were originally painted and based by my buddy AJ, but I totally re-did everything but the guns themselves in order to make them fit with the rest of the force.

A closeup.

Reverse.

And one more.

Japanese support, in the form of some engineers with pole charges (I see they called them 'lunge charges,' they are hollow charges for anti-tank work) and flamethrowers, and three stands of snipers, all from Eureka.

A stand of lunge charges.

Again.

And one of the flamethrowers.  Uncharacteristically, I painted them in rather subdued grays and browns.  You have no idea how bad I wanted to paint those tanks red ;)

Reverse.

And from behind.

One of the Japanese sniper stands.  I'm sure three stands seems like a lot of snipers, but with all the times you read about Marines running into light resistance, fight through rear guards, or having to mop up stragglers and stay behinds, I'm sure I'll need them.  

Reverse.  I really like the camo on these guys.

And one more.

Japanese command (excluding the Platoon Commanders previously shown, of course).  The overall force commander is at left (the three figure stand), while the three smaller two-man stands at right are designed for one of them to be a Forward Observer and the other two can simply serve as additional platoon commanders, as needed.  The two stands at top center are from Eureka, while the left and far right stands are from Battlefront.  Again, my buddy AJ did the left command stand originally, but I had to re-do them to make them fit in (not his fault, it was mine, I had bought them from him before I decided on how I wanted to do these guys).

A closer look at the Commanding Officer stand.

Again.


And once more.
The other Battlefront command stand, with grass sticking all over the damn place...

Reverse.

And a look at one of the FO stands, with command figure and radioman.

Another look.

Again.

Other side.

And once more.

A group of five Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, bought off Ebay.

Not beautiful, but good enough for me ;)

And somewhere along the way I picked up a single Type 95 Ha-Go tank from Peter Pig.  Much smaller than the Type 97s.

A closeer look.

And lastly we've got a pair of Zeros.

It's actually kinda funny, because they're kinda photogenic, despite looking pretty damned ugly up close and in person.

Well, there they are, finished and ready to hit the table.  Well, almost.  I still need to do up casualty figures for the Japanese and Marines, and I need some air support for my Marines, as well as some more Amtracs, and probably another M-1 37mm anti-tank gun and 75mm pack howitzer...

So, let me know what you think, and with baseball finally winding down I'll see if I can actually get some games in soon.

V/R,
Jack

18 comments:

  1. You're going to have a very difficult time figuring out where to start gaming with all those options!

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  2. Another great force assembled. All ready for some island hopping in the Pacific?

    Cheers, Andy

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    1. Thanks Andy, and yes, I believe I am!

      V/R,
      Jack

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  3. Hi Jack,

    This is the first time I've ever chipped in to the comments here, though I'm a long time reader of your blog, so before anything else I'd like to say thanks for all the work you put in. I can't speak for anyone else but I'm entertained, for sure!

    I've been really interested by your recent series of posts and keen to find out what you're going to get up to with the forces on display.

    I was particularly intrigued by this remark from your post of Wednesday, June 23, 2021 re 15mm WWII British for NW Europe. "I've been wanting to play some larger sized games, some games where I'm throwing down a brigade vs a brigade on the table, so I organized these forces along the lines of the Rapid Fire Reloaded tables of organization". And then, from the opening paragraphs of this most recent post, you add "I'm still trying to figure out what rules I'm going to use them with".

    So now that leaves me wondering, why no mention of FiveCore Brigade Commander, especially given your enthusiasm for the FiveCore system?

    Your blog bears a considerable responsibility for my own attachment (I might almost say addiction) to FiveCore (along with the rest of Mr Sorensen's rules), so please, Jack, do tell. The suspense is killing me.

    Best regards and keep posting,

    Chris

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    1. Hello Chris, I'm happy to see your inaugural post here on Blackhawkhet! Sorry my reply has taken so long, I didn't get any wargaming stuff in this weekend due to Independence Day with the family. And glad you're entertained ;)

      Regarding what I'm going to get into with all these minis and the Rapid Fire Reloaded (RFR) tables of organization, I think I've come to the realization that I don't really like the rules mechanisms (nothing wrong with most of them, but I'm really not an 'IGO-UGO' kinda guy), but I do like how they organize forces on the tabletop (8 riflemen = rifle company, 3-4 rifle companies plus some crew serves = battalion).

      That's a good question regarding 5Core Brigade Commander (5CBC), and why I'm not really looking to go that way. First, as I was getting at above, I like the way RFR organizes the troops, with a battalion being the maneuver unit, and equaling (in my mind, at least) more than one stand but a manageable number of stands (four x rifle, 1 x MG, 1 x Mortar, 1 x ATG, for example). 5CBC uses one stand per company as the maneuver element, which I think would look good in 3mm or 6mm (with lots of infantry, or multiple vehicles per stand), but I can't see throwing up a single 15mm rifle stand and calling it a company.

      Second, the mechanisms in 5Core as a whole can be rather unforgiving, with units knocked out in one feel swoop, which works ordinarily, but I worry could be a bit shocking at the level it's pitched at, with a whole company of infantry or tanks being pulled off the table after one round of fire. I think I'm looking for something more attritional in nature.

      And lastly, you're clearly aware of my infatuation with the 5Core mechanics, but even I need a break every now and again ;) There's definitely something to be said for being familiar with a set of rules/mechanisms, but damn man, I've played 259 games using Five Men in Normandy, Five Men at Kursk, or Fivecore Company Command. I've posted a total of 477 batreps on my various blogs, so that's a cool 54% of my fights that were 5Core. Don't worry, I'll never go completely away from them, but I do enjoy playing different rulesets every now and again ;)

      Thanks a bunch, and I hope to hear from you more often, now that you've busted your cherry ;)

      V/R,
      Jack

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  4. Hi Jack, thanks for your response, which I think was pretty prompt, given that I'd submitted the post just in time to coincide with the 4oJ celebration. Trust a Brit.

    Anyhow I take your point completely that sometimes you just need a change and I cannot deny that 259 games using the same family of rules seems a perfectly reasonable justification for a change ;-)

    I'll look forward to reading the batreps, if and when you have the time and inclination, and maybe even throw in a comment or two now that I've broken the ice.

    Best regards,

    Chris

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    1. Hiya Chris, and no problem, it’s my pleasure.

      Yeah, I’m really looking to do some higher echelon gaming and actually ending up a bit timid about it, need to just wade in and get to work!

      As a fellow 5Core addict, I’ve got to ask: do you have a blog I can look at? You know you’re not a complete cult of Ivan member if you’re not taking pics and posting them ;)

      Hope all is well, and yes, please do keep posting.

      V/R,
      Jack

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  5. Hey Jack, no I don't have a blog as I'm not convinced that I'd have enough time available to maintain it. It's difficult enough to find the time to play the games, let alone write a blog as well. I'm amazed and somewhat in awe of the amount of time and effort you must expend on this blog.

    The nearest I've got is a wiki-like website that I started up a couple of years ago, purely for the purpose of sharing what's happening in an unfolding solo campaign with friends. The setting is a fictional, post-colonial African country in the late 60s, with multiple factions of different types fighting each other.

    It's definitely a work in progress and slow progress at that but I've captured a few games so far. I'm still trying to finish writing up a platoon level game that I played before Christmas! That game was played using FUBAR but there are a couple of 5Core skirmish games in there.

    I'll share a link, if you're really desperate for something to read. Just let me know.

    Actually, talking of platoon level rules, I tried to email you via your blogger profile page a couple of weeks back to say that I've worked up an add-on for 5Core Skirmish to enable the rules to be used to deliver a platoon level game and to ask whether you'd give me your thoughts but I don't know whether it ever reached you?

    Best regards,

    Chris

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    1. Chris,

      I definitely know what you mean about time, and certainly blogging isn’t for everyone, but you don’t have to go as detailed as I do, and the cool thing is that it’s always there whenever you have time. We all have dead spaces where we don’t get back to posting for six months, but when you’ve got time and the inclination, she’ll be there waiting ;)

      And yes, of course I’d love to see your Wiki, and the African Imagi-nation concept sounds awesome. Aside from the pure enjoyment aspect of reading about wargaming, I love to read other folks’ stuff to see what they’re doing better than me, and nick it! ;) I don’t think I’ve had an original wargaming thought, everything cool came from someone else! ;)

      I apologize, the email address associated with this blog is not my normal use email address, and I have a bad habit of only checking it once every three or four years… But I shall do so today!

      V/R,
      Jack

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    2. Hi Jack,

      You make a persuasive argument there, I have to admit. I'll give it some further thought but I'll only go in that direction if I can be confident not just of posting regularly but, more importantly, replying promptly.

      All the bloggers that I admire are remarkable as much for their prompt responses to comments as anything else. I'm sure you'd all say well, that's just good manners, and I agree but it sets a high bar. So I'm going to be sure that I have the time to operate to that standard before I commit to a blog.

      Nevertheless, our exchange here has brought my attention back to the 'Nyikan Crisis' wiki. Moreoever, the idea of sending you a link has rekindled my motivation to finish my write up of that last action and do a little tidying up. That way there's a fighting chance that you might get make any sense of it.

      So give me a few days to do that and upload the most recent version and then I'll send you the link. No later than the end of next week. That's a promise.

      All the best and have a great weekend, when it arrives,

      Chris

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    3. Yes, I can be quite cohersive ;)

      And you’re right to recognize there is a certain amount of… responsibility? Yeah, I think that’s the closest term; I feel a certain responsibility to reply to folks, which can be a source of some anxiety when spare time is short, but I think you’ll find that the feeling is largely imaginary and self-imposed, that pretty much everyone on the forums and blogosphere are very patient and supporting. For instance, I might jokingly poke at you if you blow your (self-imposed) one-week deadline, but the fact is the wargaming world will be happy to receive it whenever it receives it ;)

      I can’t wait to learn more of the Nyikan Crisis, and rest assured I’ll be here whenever it arrives! Have a great weekend, and do something cool with regards to wargaming!

      V/R,
      Jack

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    4. Hi Jack, just a quick update. It might soon be time to "jokingly poke" atme as I'm just about to blow my(self-imposed) one-week deadline! :-| It's taking me longer to finalise the last batrep than I expected. Not helped by the fact that it's over 6 months since I played the game. I'm also realising that there's a significant difference between something that's good enough to act as a campaign record for me or to share with close friends and something that anyone else might read. To top it all, it's not helped by the fact that I'm going to be away for a few days and will almost certainly not have time to do any further work on it.

      So that's my excuse for the minute. I'm still motivated to get it done, which is definitely a good thing and I certainly thank you for that, but there may be a slight delay in service. Sorry.

      All the best,

      Chris

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    5. Chris,

      No worries man, no excuses needed! There’s no pressure, and there sure as hell isn’t a grading or peer review system, so relax! DO NOT let any of this ramp you up or where you out, this is a stress-free environment ;)

      I will gladly get around to reading your batreps/campaign fodder whenever you get around to posting it, and be happy I got the opportunity. No big deal at all!

      V/R,
      Jack

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  6. Very nice stuff. I'm tempted to buy a new army and you can't say more than that.

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  7. Thanks, I'm glad you like them! And don't fight the temptation ;)

    V/R,
    Jack

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  8. These look great Jack. Plenty of variety of figures and poses amongst the bases too (something that I really like). Ah, "fallen in love with despite not actually having played them yet"; I can relate to that. Sadly too few of them survive 'contact with the enemy', I find!
    Regards, James

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    1. Thanks James! Those Eureka sculpts are pretty darned good, and yes, at some point I need to actually play some games with these rules I love so much ;)

      V/R,
      Jack

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